The Masquerader
by TheBattyWhiteCrow
Summary: Asgard fell and Ascent rose when Ragnorak occurred over ten years ago. Since then, things have become rather simple. No one lies, no one cheats, no one betrays anyone else; All the fallen gods and goddesses do is drink, bicker, then drink some more. But Astrid Dorr CrystalArmorer is about to change all that. At the age of ten and in the span of six days.. Or burn alive trying.
1. The Start of Misfortune

Astrid's hair was very, VERY black. Which reasonably meant, of course, that most everyone wanted her to be very, VERY dead. And, according to the leather worker on Silver Alley, such an event should occur very, VERY soon if there was any justice in the world. When the world decidedly displayed a lack of said 'justice', the people of Ascent were more than pleased to take matters into their own hands.

The Barkeep of Coal, for instance, was hailed as QUITE the hero for a great amount of time after he slipped Fyre's Bite into a drink he served Astrid upon the occasion of her eighth year of life. Further, the Healers of Platinum were regarded as saints and divinities when they collectively refused to treat the effects of the poisoning, leaving the child to drown in her own blackening blood.

The cure was simple, it rested within a herb that grew as common as a weed within the gardens of Platinum. Such a plant was produced in surplus after the effect of Fyre's Bite became well known throughout Ascent. It was an unspeakably terrible poison, with a cruel and drawn out end. The poison itself tore holes within the victim's throat and lungs, which grew wider with every rasping breath until, at the end of the week, the victim drowned in their own blackening blood.

The Healers of Platinum proclaimed that such a poison was deserving of such a vile child.

The people of Ascent were so enamored with the idea of Astrid not surviving the week after the poisoning that adults and children alike openly wept in the streets when Astrid was miraculously healed.

 _It's magic_ , they cursed and spat, _The weapon of traitors. The work of demons._

It didn't help matters that Astrid's unluckiness was that of legend material.

Having the opportunity for her appearance to take after two parents; Iheia, a beautiful, bright blonde woman with brown eyes the color of amber tree sap, and Ynir, a tall, menacing looking man who held an uncanny resemblance to the notorious traitor, Loki. Astrid had had the glorious misfortune to look as much like her father as his own reflection did. Excepting, of course, his tall stature and his stubbled chin.

Astrid found that could weave her waist long hair into the latest fashions until the sun fell from the sky, it didn't change the fact that the strands were as black as the night. Nor did such an action change the fact that her bright blue eyes appeared to constantly be 'plotting something vile'. Not even slightly did such an action tamper with the evidence of her crooked smile that resembled 'something terribly evil getting its way'. Or, that her laughter reflected strongly upon her 'malicious intent'.

But Astrid DID get very good at trying to weave her silk hair into the latest fashions to erase these facts. Her long black hair was constantly coiled down her back in a curling, tight braid tied with deft fingertips as a result of such attempts.

Astrid came to suppose that the people of Ascent had perfectly reasonable reason to believe her to be a bad omen. To be some foreshadowing of something terrible to come. After all, so many adults couldn't be wrong upon one single subject, surely.

As if her appearance wasn't unfortunate enough for a single person's lifetime, there was, in addition, the matter of her cravings. Astrid couldn't recall much in her days of sickness from the Fyre's Bite, particularly closer towards the end of the week when Death was striding in. But she could recall pieces of an interesting encounter that had perked her fascination, even in her delusional state. As much as a bad omen for others as it was to entertain HER interest.

There'd been a woman, that much Astrid could puzzle through the distorted, blurred images. A woman named Tea. This woman had entered the tent of the Healers of Platinum holding a single, steaming cup of oddly delicious smelling tea, informing Ynir that he could stop threatening the 'short minded, superstitious, stupid, shoe-faced and every other insult starting with 's' ' healers, for she held the cure to Fyre's Bite. Despite the fact that the Healers of Platinum held the only keys to the garden that contained the cure.

'This won't fix the damage they've done,' Tea had said, lowering herself to rest beside the coughing child with pity painting across her features, what an odd expression it was! 'There isn't enough of the Golden Apple left They don't grow them anymore. But this'll cure you. Mostly.'

All that Astrid could recall further, was that the tea was of a golden shade, and tasted sweeter and more satisfying than anything Astrid had tasted before. The mere memory of the drink soured everything Astrid tasted in comparision, and the day after Astrid asked Ynir of golden apples. Ynir, she could remember as much, had grinned as if recalling an old memory, wondering how such things had fallen into the hands of women named after drinks briefly aloud before informing Astrid she was to forget such things entirely.

She found that she couldn't.

As the Tailor of Iron so gladly informed Astrid when she overheard Astrid ask Tea later the week, Golden Apples were once the fruit of the Gods and Goddesses.

The kind that destroyed the world.

The evil ones.

Misfortune continued to smile upon Astrid's fate as bad luck spun its way collectively throughout her life. Particularly in the subject of nature.

Astrid found herself drawn to the beauty the natural world produced without a second thought, as if magnificence itself were nothing but a beautiful happenstance. Awed, at a younger age, Astrid often found herself tucked comfortably away between the great, stretching roots of the willow tree that crested the proudest of the hills bordering Ascent. With the wind curling through her loose hair, and the open grass crinkling beneath her feet, Astrid felt, as she described later to Ynir when he accused her of such actions, 'As if I can finally breath.'

Nature, to the people of Ascent, was disorderly and chaotic. Which, of course, marked the entire subject as evil, and any who disagreed with such were inhabited by the demons that infested the world below, known as Descent. As such, Ynir forbade her from leaving the tight confines of the judgmental city of Ascent. No matter the temptation.

Choking upon the stale air of Ascent, Astrid found herself yearning desperately to return to the open, rolling hills one single more time. How she craved to dash about freely, in the open wind, without fear of judgement, death or mislabellings! As traitorous as the desire was.

But it was a STUBBORN thing.

And it simply wouldn't disappear.

Not even a week later, Astrid's resolve slipped upon the ice it strode upon, and she found herself once more at the welcome roots of the great willow tree. Only now, its open, warm branches warned of danger and madness, and not of forgotten tales and lullabies.

That was the day that the children of Ascent decided to play a new game, one appropriately named as 'The Gallow's Game'. The rules were simple, a noose was dropped around Astrid's throat, the rope was looped over the highest branch of the willow tree, and the players each took turns pulling on the end of the rope until Astrid's feet left the ground, and the breath left her conniving throat.

The most exciting part of the game came after Astrid's small hands ceased clutching uselessly at the rope and directly after the life deserted her deceptive gaze.

The branch the rope had been secured to snapped, dropping Astrid's limp body to the ground with a loud crash. After kicking the unbreathing body, and concluding it dead, the children skipped off to their parents with glee, vaunting their achievement with recounts of various demons arising to the occasion of Astrid's death, supposedly summoned by her own hellish word as she was strung up.

When Astrid came to, she raspily offered the willow her thanks.

And she could have sworn it breathed a response.

The people of Ascent despised music nearly as much as they despised nature. Music, they proclaimed, was laden with demons, madness, and disgusting rebellion. It was the muck that absorbed the sanity of the clear minded. Music was, in their teachings, the stitches that bound insanity together.

So it was just Astrid's luck that the stars themselves insistently burst into song when Astrid was nearby. Which was, unfortunately, extremely often.

The stars had always been Astrid's eternal companions, ever since she was a squalling infant, Ynir claimed. He couldn't explain where they came from, and quite simply, never tried. The perfectly round spheres gleamed with light as they zipped about the place, spiralling without end around Astrid's young form as she grew through the years. Her eternal, doting companions.

They were, despite their mischievious tendancy to play not only music, but the ODDEST of selections of the subject, often a comfort. A reminder of an older time, one wracked with madness, chaos, lies and such evils, certainly. But still, an older time that adored laughter, nature, music, and _dancing_.

Oh.. _Dancing.._

The public of Ascent, however, did not share this interest and gladly added the sin of her interest in such meaningless, chaos laden activities as the mark of a demon. Even a young one.

It really didn't help that Astrid was marked as a Magic-user. Remarkably quite obviously too.

And she wasn't even a particularly good one.

 _The Drifting_ was as much a curse upon her as it was for the rest of Ascent. After all..

It wasn't like she could control it.


	2. Trust My Rage

"Fead! Fead Sorr!" Astrid's rasped voice rose with joy as it twisted through the howling winds that wailed across the rolling hills just to the south of Ascent's tallest walls. Over her chest, the young child wore a thin, lightweighted cloth of a deeply black shade. The shirt bore thin sleeves at the top of her shoulders about the width of one of her tiny fingers, and was pinched at the center of the chest by a single golden bead the size of one's thumbprint.

The bottom of the shirt was tucked loosely into the top of her pants, which, being black in shade as well, snugly clung to her legs until they met their end; clasped tightly over the heels of her bare feet. As the excited child ran, an aged chain fidgetted around her neck, rather displeased that its pendant was lost beneath the fabric of Astrid's shirt.

Astrid's lank form bounded over the rise of a particularly steep hill. Or, at least, it started to, before stopping half way up to pant, gasp for air, and scold the wind bitterly for its particularly cold bite this morning.

"Fead, you're-" Astrid started breathlessly before giving up and letting out a thin breath, bending forward slightly as she clutched her aching lungs with chilled fingers, "You're-" She attempted once more, only to be interrupted soundly with a bone rattling cough. Shaking her head, Astrid shot herself a dry, sarcastic grin before she rose, wiping the blackened blood's drops from her spread lips with a hand before tilting her face to the warm sun as she breathed deep lungfuls of the crisp morning air.

The gusts of the immense height of Ascent, the newest city in the sky, roared past Astrid with a playful vengence, teasing her waist long black hair from its intricate braidings as it dashed past in a mad game. Twirling upon its heel, the gale sprinted through Astrid with a smug sort of smile playing upon its whispering breath.

"You're going to _adore_ what the stars have told me, Fead!" Astrid promised cockily, her voice slicing through the howling air with a restored power. "The insistant little buggers have finally told me something _important_!"

Offended, the gleaming stars of glittering gold dashed from their perch within Astrid's twisted hair, throwing themselves before her blue eyes in aggravation. "Hush! Not yet!" Astrid scolded with a hiss, waving the blasted things away in annoyance. Heaving a meladramatic string quartet of violins in depression, the stars darted back to the safety of Astrid's braid, stringing themselves in her dark hair sulkily.

"Hey.. Fead?" Astrid's brow furrowed as she stepped cautiously up the hillside, "Where are you?" Astrid's crooked grin twitched downwards in concern. Fead _always_ met her around here.

And he was _never_ late.

The sound of children's laughter filled the air chillingly, freezing Astrid where she stood and gripping her heart firmly with a painful, crippling fear as haunting memories flooded through her mind unwillingly.

 _Gasping, and choking, Astrid clutched at the fraying rope at her neck as her toes skirted upon the damp soil. "I'm not- I'm not evil!" Astrid begged desperately, pleadingly catching the gaze of the line of children eagerly waiting for their turn to pull at the end of the dangling rope._

 _"_ _Liar!" They sang._

 _"_ _Evil thing!" They taunted._

 _"_ _Traitor!" They laughed._

 _"_ _Evil thing!" They chanted._

 _"_ _Beast!" They grinned._

 _ **"**_ _ **Evil thing!"**_

Astrid bolted.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

"Let's play a game, Satyr!" The crowd of children challenged, sneering at the wide eyed boy standing at the ring of their confining circle. "You _will_ play with us, won't you?" The little blonde girls giggled sweetly as the larger boys intimidatingly stepped forward, stretching their growing frames absently as they grinned happily with a menacing gaze that clearly read that it was _not_ a request.

"Let's play The Gallows Game!" One of the blonde girls declared, beaming happily at the idea, "We've already seen one Satyr **burn**. Let's see his son **hang**!"

Fead swallowed as an uproar of agreement filled the group. He could recall when he'd been one of them, tormenting Astrid for being odd. But he'd never been so cruel, even when the roar of the crowd ensured his mind he was in the right. After all, Fead himself had been the one to cut the branch of the Willow tree that the children of Ascent had so pleasantly strung Astrid up upon. Though he'd never tell her.

They had claimed her evil, and it made things simple. If she was an evil, spiteful thing, then no one else was. And with so many people, adults especially, declaring hatred for the dark haired girl, the claim veiled a simple truth. _Hurt the girl, or we hurt you._

Anyone associated with Astrid was evil.

And that's the way that Fead thought it simply had to be. That is, until his father's charm wore off. In one day, Fead discovered he was half goat from the waist down, had _hooves_ of all things, grey horns, and as if it were not bad enough. Blue eyes.

In the same day, he discovered what it meant to lie. And its punishments.

"You're going to _hang_ me?" Fead blinked, as if shocked by the idea, his voice trembling shakily, "I was one of **you**!"

"Yeah," The largest boy supposed, shrugging his arms dismissively, as he stepped forward in to the closed ring, glee written across his older face, "Before your coward father got caught for lying and burned alive for it."

His name was Ivor, and Fead had never gotten along particularly well with the blood thirsty brute. Even when they had been on the same side.

"I always thought he smelled rancid.." One of the girls whispered to the other with a spiteful grin directed Fead's way as the ring began guffawing at the snide remark. Loud declarations of agreement rang through the crowd before Ivor raised a hand, frowning in mock alarm, "Don't you see? He's got you all prattling on about nothing! He's stalling! Little **trickster**!" Ivor spat maliciously.

"Oi!" Astrid bellowed, her blackened and lean form lurking behind Ivor, her chest rising and falling quickly from her run, anger gleaming through her gaze in hatred, "Who're you calling a **Trickster**? _Argr?_ " She spat the vile insult with a perfect accent. Ivor's face turned red as he spun upon his heel, charging at the far smaller girl with rage.

"Come at me, _bro_." Astrid taunted from a lost age, widening her stance slightly.

Ivor swung his fist wide, only having time to blink shockedly the moment Astrid _ducked,_ before she threw a sideways punch his way.

By the time that the painful sound of the hit connecting left the air, Ivor was sprawled into the dirt, spitting out teeth, saliva and blood on his hands and knees, whimpering in panic and pain before he threw a terrified look Astrid's way, the blood clotting in his swelling cheek pooled within his injured eye.

Astrid blinked, looking to her own fist in utter bafflement.

Her knuckles weren't even red.

The children bolted.

Definitions – Argr politely means 'coward', and that's being NICE! It means a man is sexually emasculated, unmanned or womanish. Here, Astrid is referancing Lokasenna, as the insult is scattered profusely through the poem.


	3. The Little Lady Loki

Astrid opened her fist slowly behind Fead's back as Fead staggered forward, gawking at the small pile of teeth in distraction. Silently, Astrid spread her fingertips before her wide blue eyes in hidden shock. There wasn't even a mark on her knuckles.

It didn't even _ache_.

Fead spun on his hooves, his blue eyes gleaming with alarm, "Astrid! Let me see your hand! It must be hurt!"

"Eh? _Eh?_ " Astrid exclaimed, stepping backwards as Fead advanced determinately, "Oh!" She blinked in alarm before she shoved her hand behind her back, connecting the dangerous dots of her condemning hand suddenly, "Er.." Astrid started in explanation, stumbling over her own thoughts in a panic.

"I was nearly a healer before my charm broke-" Fead informed, dashing around Astrid in an attempt to view the injury hidden behind her back, "Let. Me. See!" Fead demanded in frustration as Astrid pivotted on her heels, firmly keeping him from her back. Growing anxious, Astrid grimaced to find that, as always, The Drifiting began to act up the moment that her nerves grew frayed.

"I- uh.." Astrid started, swallowing dryly as the resting leaves that were once settled upon the damp soil lifted into the air lazily, rolling over one another gently as they rose. Even punching _Ivor_ in his smug face hadn't made her _this_ anxious.

"You knocked out three of Ivor's teeth!" Fead feigned a wild dash to the left, before cunningly sprinting to the right side of Astrid quickly.

"Do you think he'll have a crooked smile?" Astrid asked hopefully, not falling for the trick bluntly as a wicked delight glistening through her gaze at the delightful idea of Ivor's new face. The only thing worse than blue eyes, was a _crooked_ smile.

"At the very least." Fead's incessant darting ceased as a sideways grin stretched across his boyish features, "I'm betting you gave him a red eye, too."

"Like a Frost Giant?" Astrid dared to hope.

" _Just_ like a Frost Giant." Fead assured happily. Bringing Astrid to giggle wolfishly at the prospect, as wicked as it was to do so.

It was high time that Ivor finally sampled what it was to be different, a crime he tormented others for mercilessly, Astrid reasoned with satisfaction. Finally, he got to bear the mark of a red eye and a crooked grin on his _own,_ previously UnLoki features.

The Loki features would heal.

The lesson he'd learn from the experience ahead, however, would remain.

"Now," Fead waved aside the floating leaves trivially before ducking towards the ground and balancing on the backs of his hooves in an attempt to become more nimble, "Lemme see your hand!" He instructed, dashing forward as Astrid cleverly stepped behind the wide trunk of the looming willow tree.

"Fead!" Astrid called as the pair peeked and darted around the trunk excitedly, "Fead!" Astrid poked her features out one side of the tree, The Drifting rusting the branches above mischieviously, "Oi! I'm not going to let you see my hand!" Astrid assured cockily.

"Astrid," Fead poked his head out of the other side of the tree, his grey horns gleaming in the flickering sunlight that slipped through the rustling leaves, "You've got to watch what you say! If I see your hand NOW, that makes you a liar!"

"Which is why you're not going to keep trying to see it!" Astrid grinned cunningly.

"Ah," Fead started before frowning in thought, falling silent, "Oh."

"That's cunning." Fead teased with a wicked, daring grin.

"Oi!" Astrid exclaimed with an easy laugh, pointing at Fead sternly with her off hand, "You watch your mouth." She mock scolded.

Fead grinned crookedly in affection before tilting his head back, peering at the rustling branches above in fascination. "Alright, alright! Now let's have some fun and climb this thing!" He challenged thoughtfully.

"Can you even climb with goat legs?" Astrid teased.

"Can you even climb with raven hair?" Fead retorted easily.

"You have no idea what you've just started." Astrid informed mock seriously, reaching into the air with her offhand to clutch the lowest branch in her grip. Resting her half barefeet upon the rough bark of the trunk for support, Astrid easily wove her way through the branches of the tree.

"Which reminds me," Fead leapt clumsily, throwing his entire weight upon a low branch, shaking the entire tree as he did so, "Oof!" He gasped breathlessly as he recovered, " _What_ did you even call him? Ivor?" He inquired, getting his hoofs beneath him after a hard fought moment.

"He called you a **Trickster**!" Astrid defended sharply, slipping through the lesser branches naturally as she lifted herself to the higher, more precarious branches.

"I remember! But that doesn't answer the question!" Fead argued, yelping as he slipped from the low branch, slamming into the ground with a dull, defeated thud. Groaning softly, Fead hauled his reluctant body upwards, "What does _Arg-_ "

"Watch your mouth!" Astrid scolded bluntly, grappling random branches as the tree trembled from the movements of Fead's _marvelous_ climbing ability.

"What does it even _mean_?"

"Uh.." Astrid swallowed, "It.. Uh," She looked upwards through the tree branches above in a grimace, "Means.. Coward." Astrid started, wincing guiltily, "If you're being polite."

"And if you're not?" Fead insisted, frowning below as he battled with the nearest branch, lifting himself with uncoordinated movements onto the shaking limb.

Astrid drew her lips back in a grimace as she drew herself farther above the secure branches with arrogance that should _wouldn't fall_ , "… It, well.. It means a man is sexually _womanish_." She finished reluctantly.

"… And what does _that_ mean?" Fead narrowed his eye in suspicion as he raised himself higher upon the quivering branches.

Astrid halted in her climb suddenly, whimpering as a sharp pain pierced the inside of her lungs.

She was pushing herself too hard.

"… It means-" She gasped breathlessly, "That between two men _mating,-"_ Astrid attempted once more before breaking off, moaning as she leaned forward in defeat, clutching at her hidden injury,

" _Astrid?"_ Fead cried in alarm, peering upwards in concern as silence hung in the air, "Just, just hold still- **Don't move!** " He demanded, clamoring upwards in a dramatic panic that snapped more than a few branches before dumping him on his back on the soil below pointedly.

"Knightly Knight!" Astrid managed, a wince distorting her features as the soft laughter Fead summoned pounded against her seared lungs. "Be calm! I'm- I'm breathing! Look at me go!" She assured after a moment, coughing hoarsely with force that shook the thin branches she rested upon. "Ugh.. Icky." Astrid complained, wiping the blackened blood from her lips with a thumb before continuing weakly, "The accused plays the role of the woman."

Looming over the edge of the branches, Astrid peered at the recovering satyr below as her strength returned, "As it turns out, if you call someone it, they have full rights to kill you, without being punished by something odd called ' _the law_ '."

" _ **ASTRID!**_ " Fead shouted in bafflement at the grotesque and rather absurd new word, "Who even **taught** you that?" Fead exclaimed in alarm before frowning in thought, "And _Knightly Knight_?"

"Knightly Knight!" Astrid exclaimed the nickname in complete affection, slipping through the clutching branches as she descended to the lowest of the limbs, "Ynir insisted that I memorize Lokasenna. He thought it would teach me the consequences of lying." Astrid explained trivially.

"What's a Lokasenna?" Fead inquired, huffing as he lifted himself from the ground before dusting off his shoulders. Astrid grinned sideways, offering Fead her off hand with open fingertips. "It's an agonizingly long poem about Loki accusing random people of random things in random insults." She murmered as Fead locked his fingers in her own, "I never figured out _why_ though." She added, hauling Fead onto the branch with an alarming ease, "Or how it started. The text I was given was missing a few pieces. Loki was a coward, and an _evil-face_ ," Astrid condemned, narrowing her eyes at the mention of the man,

"But he _was_ pretty creative in his insults." Astrid nodded softly as she considered her own words. The branch below shook and trembled at every move the pair made as the two of them dangled their legs easily over the edge of the branch in contentment, their feet swaying softly above the ground.

"Maybe I can help, new pair of goat ears and whatnot." Fead offered, gesturing grandly to his head with a good natured grin.

"I wasn't joking when I said it was agonizingly long." Astrid warned.

"Lemme hear it!"

"Mmmnn.." Astrid scrunched her nose as she hummed a single note droningly in deep thought. ".. How did it start..?" She scoured her memory with an intense expression compressing her adorable face, "Ah!" Astrid beamed with a breath, giggling with pride, " _Now_ , I remember!" She declared before raising her hands, resting her open fingers against the crown of her temples.

"Speak now, Eldir, for not one step,

Farther shalt thou fare;

What ale-talk here, do they have within,

The sons of the glorious gods?"

"Why are you doing that?" Fead frowned, looking towards the odd gesture in interest.

"Loki's speaking, they're horns."

"Ahh…." Fead breathed in understanding before blinking in surprised curiosity, "What's Ale?"

"No idea. Bale of hay, maybe? Everyone talks to it?"

"I remember that Eldir speaks next.." Astrid considered, lowering her mock horns in thought. "Sounds like a tough name for a tough guy." Fead decided. "Tough pose for Eldir's dialogue?" Astrid suggested quizzically as a crooked smirk twitched across her features.

"Rrrr!" Fead roared softly, hooking his fingers jokingly in the imitation of a roaring creature as a wide grin stretched across his features. Giggling softly, Astrid hooked her own fingers, baring her teeth and scrunching her nose in mock 'toughness' as she continued in a high pitched attempt at a low and gravelly voice, "Of their weapons they talk, and their might in war,

The sons of the glorious gods;

From the gods and elves who are gathered here,

No friend in words shall thou find."

"The _sons_ of the glorious gods. They don't have daughters?" Fead considered, baffled at the wild idea.

"Huh.. Guess not. Poor sods. Where was I? Oh yeah! Loki's turn to talk again!" Astrid declared, placing her imitations of horns once more at the crown of her head as she continued her dictation obediantly.

"In shall I go into Ægir's hall,

For the feast I fain would see;

Bale and hatred I bring to the gods,

And their mead with venom I mix."

"Venom in mead.. Didn't the Barkeep of Coal do just that to you? That's why you cough, and can't breathe if you move too much."

"Ironically, it was because I looked and acted a bit like Loki."

"You're like a Little Lady Loki!" Fead declared with a beaming grin pointed Astrid's way.

Astrid shoved Fead from the branch sourly before peering over the edge with a crooked grin, "Heh, heh, heh." She chuckled wickedly.


	4. Shifting Waters

The morning sun had retreated far beyond the stretching walls of Ascent by the time the final lines of Lokasenna hung in the hushed air. Breathing a reluctant, but finished breath, savoring the chilled afternoon air, Astrid dragged her gaze upwards to the darkening sky in defeat, ".. Uh oh.. Story time's over." Astrid heaved a soft groan, running her nervous fingers through her blackened hair in anxiety.

Fead narrowed his eyes in confusion before starting softly, "How hard could it be to explain the fight to your fath-"

"Ynir." Astrid informed quietly before leaping from her perch upon the branch. Hopping about childishly, Astrid's serious demeanor twirled upon its heel as she groaned, spat and complained bitterly of the rather impressive bruise the branch left upon her backside and her legs. Swearing for the life of her that she would regret the seating arrangement later.

"He's not your father?" Fead gaped in alarm, panic written tightly across his growing, boyish features, "But- But he said he was! If he's not- That-" Fead stammered in terror before he leapt from his seat upon the branch. His panicked words cut off adruptly as the satyr skipped about in an attempt to regain sensation in his furry goat legs "-That makes _you_ a liar for calling him your father, and him a _liar_ for telling you to! You both could **burn** if anyone so much as suspected! My father burned for less!"

"He **is** my father!" Astrid assured, holding out her slender hands sweetly to calm the satyr as he hopped about the place in a strangely mesmerizing attempt at a jig. Despite herself, a soft smile crossed her features; Even when Fead was certain she'd burn alive for her lies, he was still charmingly sweet, "He just, well, doesn't like me to call him it anymore. After Iheia got pregnant, he's been.." Astrid paused, looking deliberately into the evening sky in search of a distraction before, noting there was nothing above but the circling birds, pulled her lip between her nervous teeth as she continued, "Well.. He's been worried for the babe. Worried for ' _the family'_. He thinks that I shouldn't.. _Stir_ things.. Believes that I do it on purpose. Says it's too Chaotic. Scares people.. He will not like this." Astrid admitted in guilt, directing a repentant look in Fead's direction before she started upon the faded path with dreading steps. Her gaze reluctantly staring at the soil beneath her bare feet rather than toward the looming, oppressive walls of Ascent.

"But, they were going to hang me!" Fead burst out, dashing a step forward to keep up with Astrid's sudden pace, "He's not worried about you anymore?" Fead asked as his brow furrowed in concern and alarm, "But, you've been hung! You need his help!" He exclaimed as if Astrid didn't know such things.

"The unborn babe matters more." Astrid condemned miserably.

"Oh." Fead breathed as his gaze slipped across the horizon in a desperate persuit of a distraction. Or, better yet, something that would fill the sullen silence with the same wild laughter that had filled the afternoon air just a few moments ago.

The floating land that the city of Ascent rested upon was named, confusingly enough, Ascent. Primarily because the inhabitants of the city chose to believe that the rolling hills and whispering trees that stretched just south of their highest walls were non existant if a certain number of people simply ignored it hard enough; And so the land ended with the city.

The city itself was a poorly designed creation when it had been originally built. Needless to say, it was never intended for the sharp increase in the population pressing within its walls. But it did rise rather quickly, only a single generation after Ascent rose the population had swelled to a rather unreasonable number for the tight space provided.

As the unknown was generally a chaotic, unruly and _disorderly_ subject, the people of Ascent stubbornly settled themselves in their nest and simply took to cramming as many homes in the tight space as possible; Rather than risk such a dangerous, _terrifying_ subject as **expansion**.

The product of their nesting was quite simply put; a **really** very chaotic city. Twisting from the city's heart sprouted crooked and lengthy alleys, each named decidedly after some ore, gem or mineral that was once mined in the heathen land of Descent, before, of course, it fell apart at the hands of their own Gods. Surrounding the packed city was a constricting wall built after Ascent rose, constructed primarily with uneven, poorly crafted bricks that stretched high into the sky, casting the entire city in shadow.

Bleating loudly in joy, Fead suddenly launched himself into the gently babbling creek that was born within the Ever-Fountain at center of Ascent, its waters travelled decisively in each of the cardinal directions of the compass. Only to drop their clear waters off the cliffs upon the edges of Ascent, where they plummetted onto the land of Descent lost in cloud below.

Plucking a glittering treasure from the crystal waters, Fead spun upon his hoofed heel, proudly brandishing his prize with delight to Astrid. Inadvertently splashing the dark haired child with water as he made such a swift movement.

A single, dark stone gleamed pleasantly between his tanned fingertips, wordlessly boasting proudly of its own rarity.

"A stone!" Astrid gasped in shock, tripping over her own feet as she staggered forward before she knew particularly where she was heading. The chilling waters of the creek lapped playfully at her ankles as Astrid's sparkling blue eyes drank in the rare delight before her. "What a find! I haven't seen one of those in years!" Astrid exclaimed as her lips gaped softly in wonder. "No one has! Can't even find them in the nest of the Evelnii anymore! You should hide it before the Evelnii above sees! Ynir says that it's because its been too long since Ascent touched Descent; All the stones we once had have been stolen, dropped, or discarded and we can't get anymore!" Astrid excitedly informed as she absently bounced upon her heels with excited awe. "What a find!"

"Perhaps.. Guin Morr of Iron will bind it to wire.." Fead wondered aloud as he stepped out from the creek with a considering smile, before he shook his dripping hooves firmly by kicking each limb in determination to rid himself of _every last drop_.

He DESPISED the sensation of water against his newer skin, or rather, _fur_.

"Why would you want a stone bound to wire?" Astrid inquired curiously as she leapt from the chilled water, mimicing Fead as she hopped from one foot to the other, shaking the water from her ankles just as comedically.

"So it can be hung from a cord. It's how you make a necklace."

"Clever!" Astrid declared ignorantly as a wide grin stretched across her features in innocence.

Fead suddenly threw his horned head back, bleating aloud with a pounding laughter, "Astrid, it's a necklace for you! Consider it a reward for disturbing The Gallows Game." Fead chuckled as he turned to Astrid's blank, yet flattered features, "Well, that, and for giving Ivor a _Frost Giant's Eye_ , as well as _Loki's Grin_!" Fead declared boldly before freezing adruptly the instant Astrid leaned forward, softly pecking her lips against his cheek. "Mwah."

Fead's confident grin dropped in shock at the unexpected kiss as his softly agap, incredibly silent mouth, formed only the unspoken words, ' _Wow.'_ before the stone fell from his numb fingers.

"If I'd known-" Fead's voice squeaked sharply, much to the embarrassment of the _very_ red cheeked satyr, "-That a stone earned _that_.. I would have hunted for one for every hour I was able to see!" He declared in a squeaking voice hushed with shock.

Astrid laughed softly as she crouched to the ground, delicately plucking the stone from the dust with gently fingers, as if she held gold, " _Knightly Knight!_ You really know nothing about women! I kissed you because you were kind! Not because of a trinket, or a treasure!"

The Evelnii, a descendant of a bird known to the people of Descent as an eagle, circled over head, contemplating boredly the sight of the gleaming treasure within the palm of the dark haired child. Unlike the eagles upon Descent, The Evelnii was an enormous beast, with a wing span the size of Ascent itself. The creature was so large, that the small thing clutching the stone it desired was only the size of its own talon, it calculated greedily, the child's grip would be nothing troublesome.

And with that thought, the giant eagle dove sharply towards the child with bared talons, a sharp screech filling the air as it delicately plucked the treasure from the child's palm before returning to the air. What The Evelnii _hadn't_ expected, however, was for the black haired girl to stubbornly _refuse to_ _let go_ , and instead of releasing the stone, she simply gripped the leg of the beast as it dove past, and only tightened her fingers as the two gained altitude.

And so the Evelnii gained a rather _unwanted_ passanger.


	5. Airborne

An ancient, mechanic hum sliced through the stagnant and forgotten air of the grand hall hidden far beneath the city of Ascent; The first noise to be heard within the abandoned hall since the End of the World ten years prior.

The grinding of dusted gears followed drowsily after, noisily bouncing through the staled air as a harsh, green light flickered to life reluctantly from a heap of cogs upon the ground. Bursts of blinking, hesitant light quickly flooded the forgotten hall with the harsh prize it had been so long without; Light.

The whirl of machinary assaulted the breathless air as a looming, waking creature of an immense size hauled its reluctant springs and gears to their full, groaning height. The unsteady gleam of the green light dulled into a steady glow as the creature adjusted its eye socket around the beam with a calculating clicking of gears.

 _Start up initiated._ The machine whirled in a processing calculation as text darted through the inside of its gleaming green eyes, disappearing off the small screen at an unreadable speed. _Last initiation estimated at… Calcu_ _l_ _ating.._

 _Calcu_ _l_ _ation complete. Estimate at 3,658 days_ _since last activation._

 _Scanning for primary requirements.._

 _Imminent_ _death of Ascent citizen detected._

 _Searching for_ _user established_ _exception barriers.._

 _I_ _mmine_ _nt death of Ascent citizen by another Ascent citizen.. Unmet._

 _No user established exception barriers detected._ The machine concurred as it stretched its rusted gears with a complaining whine emitting from its tired springs and joints. _Operation 'RESCUE' initiated._

 _Contacting God of War.._

 _Identifying self as; Goddess of Children._ The machine known as The Goddess of Children clanked and clanged with calculation as the text slowed in its speed upon noting that the end of the program was imminent.

 _Goddess of Children: The Evelnii has stolen a child. Ensure_ _that_ _this does not occur again._

 _God of War: Message received._ _The Evelnii will fall. Ensure_ _that_ _the child does not fall with it._

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Evelnii was decidedly _not_ amused.

Screeching furiously, the giant eagle tumbled through the air in wild roll as it shook its claws mercilessly in an attempt to throw the dark haired girl from its talons and onto the ground far, far below.

"Ah-Ah-Ah-Ah!" Astrid protested, her voice shaking audibly with each of the sudden movements of the talons she clung to. "I'm- Gonna- Be- Sii-iii-ii-iick!" Astrid wailed, the stars strung within her hair clinging tightly to her fraying braid in utter and complete terror.

Shrieking with rage, The Evelnii spun and twisted within the air, forcefully flinging the child into the air with a final, powerful throw. Astrid bellowed a shrill scream of fear as she flipped upwards wildly through the air, a tangle of tangled black hair, gleaming gold stars and charcoal clothing. The Evelnii, pleased to find itself free of its passenger, ceased its wild tumbling with a cry of victory and stretched its wings widely to glide peacefully upon the winds of Ascent.

Astrid flailed as she fell, her open hands clawing and clutching at the gusts of air that tore at her through the fall. Unsurprisingly, the action proved to be absolutely futile.

"Woah!" Astrid screeched in alarm in her tumble before she landed bluntly on The Evelnii's feathered back; Upside down and face first. "Woah!" She yelped loudly as she flipped onto her stomach from the beating of the bird's wings, her position shifting unsteadily. Desperately, Astrid dug her nails into the back of the large beast, only to obtain handfuls of torn and tattered feathers, rather than a halt to the alarming rate in which she was slipping off the end of the bird's back.

Shrieking in pain, The Evelnii recoiled in mid-air before suddenly charging forward. determinedly throwing its legs behind itself in an attempt to become more streamline, and thus, become even _faster_ in an attempt to loosen the child's waning grip upon its back.

"Woah!" Astrid offered shortly before plummeting off the tail of the bird promptly. Panicked, Astrid threw a slender hand outwards, clutching at _anything_ in her desperate terror. By chance, in The Evelnii's attempt to rid itself of its passenger faster, it provided Astrid the perfect hold; its hanging claws.

Dangling once more from the giant's eagle's talons, Astrid groaned, swinging slightly as she attempted to claim a better hold. The Evelnii hung its head upside down to inspect the creature hanging from its claws in hostility, narrowing its gleaming eyes to the child in annoyance.

"Hello." Astrid nervously attempted a charming grin.

The Evelnii screeched loudly in Astrid's face in response.

OoOoOoOoOoOoOo

The Evelnii threw itself weightedly into its nest; a pile of twigs and treasures that rested far above the city of Ascent and was nearly as large as the enormous bird itself. Strips of cloth were woven into the nest, paired with random, stolen objects rimming the domed nest, every object hidden within were lost beneath a thousand others. Staggering upon one leg, The Evelnii viciously shook the limb Astrid was attached to with a vengeful ferocity.

"Hey- yey- yey- yey!" Astrid complained bitterly, clinging onto the limb stubbornly.

Hopping backwards a step, The Evelnii absently dropped the stone in its violent attempts to shake the unwanted passenger from its talons. "I'm getting Dii-ii-ii-iizy! Stah-ah-ah-ahp it!" Astrid protested loudly, stubbornly adjusting her grip upon the leg of the beast in determination. Screeching in annoyance, The Evelnii turned its head upside down to peer at Astrid in seething hatred. Cocking its head crookedly in thought, the beast suddenly threw its beak forward, snapping it closed around the Astrid's heel and tore backwards sharply.

"Ack!" Astrid yelped as her grip broke and she hung upside down from The Evelnii's beak by her half bare heel. "Lemme down!" Astrid demanded sharply, punctuating each spiteful _new_ shake The Evelnii awarded her with an indignant shout.

Bored with the new game, The Evelnii spat Astrid's foot out of its beak in distaste before rearing backwards with a cry of screeching violence. Astrid, flat on her back, tore a stick from the nest, brandishing before her as a weapon. "Come at me _bro!_ " Astrid taunted from a lost age as she leapt to her feet in challenge.

Cocking its head, The Evelnii threw its head forward, easily plucking the weapon from Astrid's grip before it turned its back to the bitterly complaining child to correct the error in its delicately woven nest. Directing an annoyed glare at back of the bird, Astrid ran her fingertips through her tangled hair, adjusting the strands of the ruined braid into a slightly more manageable mess before she stopped to stare bluntly at the glittering stone at her very feet.

Grinning happily, Astrid plucked the precious stone from the nest's floor, bouncing it pleasantly in her palm with glee. "Ha!" She exclaimed in delight, "Take _that_!" Astrid boasted proudly, brandishing her prize to the back of the bird with giggling laughter.

The bird turned around abruptly, directing a venomous look Astrid's way.

Swallowing once under the seething, ' _no more games_ ' glare, Astrid slowly slipped the stone into a pocket, taking care to button the pouch firmly. "Uh oh..." Astrid murmured softly as her lips pulled back dreadingly in a wince as the bird lumbered itself closer intimidatingly.

Hopping forward in a rage, The Evelnii bellowed a painful cry that pierced the ears ruthlessly as it attacked at a terrifying speed. Gnashing its shimmering claws, The Evelnii knocked Astrid's feet out from under her before promptly digging its claws firmly into the back of her shirt the instant she landed on her stomach. "Yikes!" Astrid complained as The Evelnii lumbered to the edge of the nest, dragging the struggling child along before dangling Astrid cruelly over the endless drop at the end of the nest.

"That's a far drop!" Astrid exclaimed in terror as she threw her clamoring hands backwards in an attempt to grab at the talons that hung her by the back of her shirt over the seemingly endless abyss. To no avail. "Have I mentioned that I'm afraid of heights?!"

Screeching maliciously, The Evelnii carelessly tossed Astrid into the air, despite her screaming protests before easily catching her by the heel at the last possible moment.

"Uwahhh.." Astrid moaned, dizzily hanging limply from the creature's talons in a shocked and near silent stupor.

The Evelnii blinked calculatingly as it turned the object dangling from its claws in thought. "Bleh-heh-heh-heh.." Astrid groaned as she spun, sticking out her tongue slightly as she narrowed her eyes in a half lidded exhaustion.

The Evelnii cocked its head sharply, peering at the slowly turning child hanging from its claws in fascination before chirping once in sweet affection. Though its eyes still stubbornly glittered with lust for the stone that she hid.

Suddenly a rather large, rather weighted force slammed into The Evelnii's unprotected back, sending the giant bird plummeting towards the distant ground. Tumbling through air, the giant eagle fought to reclaim the wind beneath its clamoring wings desperately, distractedly allowing Astrid to slip through its talons in its moment of surprise.

Astrid belted out a loud, panicked scream as she tumbled through the air. _Again_.

The God of War, a mechanic dragon of clicking, whirling golden gears swooped low overhead, humming loudly in a mechanic growl as it charged into The Evelnii in a fearsome rage. The attack threw the two tumbling through the air, tightly locked in a gruesome battle filled with cries of injury and victory. Blood and feathers filled the air as The God of War bared his grand wings, tearing into The Evelnii without mercy.

Diving low, The Goddess of Children, an eerily similar machine, obscured Astrid's vantage point of the battle, sweeping beneath Astrid's flailing form to collect the shouting child upon its cog lined back.

"Oof!" Astrid gasped as she landed backwards upon the mechanic dragon's back solidly in a tangle of limbs. Bouncing twice as she clamored for a hand hold, Astrid offered a quick, "Yikes!" before rolling off the side of the dragon promptly.

Blinking twice with a whirl of calculating machinery, The Goddess of Children peered at the falling child below in astonishment, processing a new line of text to inform The God of War of the event.

 _Goddess of Children: .._ _I dropped it._

 _God of War: … You're a Goddess. Act like it._

Astrid crashed through the hay roof of the CrystalArmorer's family home painfully before dropping into the center of the set table, scattering the plates and cups to the floor in a destructive mess. Iheia, wide at the belly with a child, staggered backwards in shock at the sudden event as Ynir dashed in front of his blonde mate protectively.

Astrid groaned, looking up at the gap in the ceiling with breathless fascination.

It had been an awefully long fall.

Anyone else would have had a thousand broken bones, accompanied by burst flesh and split faces.

But her? _She was simply winded._

"Hello, Ynir." Astrid offered, turning her sweet eyes to Ynir's seething glare with a thin smile as The Evelnii blocked gap overhead in its dive off of the sheer cliff of Ascent. Bleeding and injured, The Evelnii was lost beneath the white clouds less than a moment later.

 _God of War: .. I lost it._

 _Goddess of Children: …. You're a God, act like it._

 _A/N I feel like I'm talking to myself here.._


End file.
